Well, how do you get it?  Type 2 diabetes that is!  Here are the big risk factors: being overweight or obese.
And hand-in-hand with this:

• is high blood pressure 
• an increased risk of developing heart disease 
• people carrying excess weight can have fat distributed evenly over their body, or it may occur centrally, ie.
  in and around the abdominal area.
   Abdominal fat is associated with heart disease 
• the extra abdominal fat is playing havoc with your metabolism.
   This fat increases your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
   Fat on our lower body such as our hips and thighs does not carry the same health risk.
  

Risk Factors you cannot Change.

• your family history 
• your ethnic background
• having heart disease, angina, or having had a heart attack
• having polycystic ovarian syndrome 
• giving birth to a baby more than 8.
  5lbs (4kg)
• having gestational diabetes during pregnancy

Risk Factors you can do something about:

• being overweight.
   Especially if the weight is around your abdominal area and your waist measurements exceeds 37" (94cm) for most men, or 31" (80cm) for most women
• not participating in some physical activity for 30 minutes each day
• smoking
• having high blood pressure
• having high total LDL cholesterol
• having low HDL (good) cholesterol
• having high triglycerides
• an unhealthy eating pattern

Not everyone who carries excess weight will develop pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes but the underlying metabolic problem will be severely increased by being overweight.
  The underlying metabolic problem or insulin resistance means:

• your cells are resistant to the action of insulin 
• glucose is then not able to enter your cells as normally would occur  
• glucose builds up in the bloodstream
• to compensate, your pancreas makes more and more insulin which then allows the glucose into the cells
• the insulin level stays high
• high insulin levels all the time is not good for your health

Carrying excess weight is not ideal: excess fat blocks the action of insulin putting additional strain on the body's ability to maintain optimal blood glucose levels.
How to Prevent it? Making healthy lifestyle choices:

• moderate weight loss - about 11-22lb (5-10kg)
• eating a healthy diet - lowering your saturated fat intake by using low-fat dairy products
• choosing snack  foods wisely
• boosting your omega-3 intake
• lowering the GI of your diet
• increasing your fiber intake    
• increasing your regular physical activity.
   You need roughly 200 minutes of moderate level activity each week, or 30 minutes a day.
   This could include walking, jogging, swimming, dancing or cycling.
  

You are more than your diabetes.
 The way you respond to your type 2 diabetes will determine whether it will be a minor annoyance or a major sickness.